by Griff Hosker
He jammed down on the accelerator and we sped past the slower lorry.
"Keep your foot down. I want to eliminate any trouble before the lorry reaches it. That has the wounded in it and the General!"
I knew from the map that the hotel was only a couple of miles from the town. Poulson shouted, "Sarge, Germans coming the other way!"
"Slow down, Lowe. You lads in the back get ready with the grenades. Wait for my command."
It was a German armoured car which was coming towards us. If he fired then it would be the shortest escape in history. Thankfully he slowed too. He saw what he expected to see, a German vehicle with Germans driving it. The hatch opened as he drew level with us. I smiled as his head appeared. I was leaning nonchalantly on the machine gun; the barrel just happened to be facing the armoured car. Behind him I saw a lorry filled with troops.
The officer had doubt written all over his face as he said, "We heard gunfire."
I waved him to put his face closer to our vehicle. I said, "False alarm." Then in English I shouted, "Now!"
The truck filled with German troops had closed with us and had stopped. I cocked the machine gun and raked the side of the truck and the cab. I was so close that I could not miss. "Drive!"
Lowe put his foot down not a moment too soon. The three stick grenades demolished the armoured car. It was a blazing wreck. I kept firing as we passed the German truck until I had no bullets left. I had no idea how many we killed but I know that I had hit the driver for the vehicle had swerved savagely to the left and smashed into one of the mud houses which lined this suburb. "Is Harry still behind us?"
"Yes, Sarge!" Ken's voice sounded calm and in control.
"Lowe, take the next right and then the first left. I want to get off this main road."
"But Sarge it will slow us down."
"Every Kraut worth his salt will be racing down this main road. We can't be lucky twice."
The roads we travelled did indeed narrow. Ken shouted, at one point, "The lorry has lost his mirrors!" We could live without mirrors.
I was aware of signs pointing to the left. I did not recognise the words but I did the picture of a ship. The port was to our left. If we continued down this road then we would soon be beyond the town. The locals shook their fists at us as we screamed down roads more used to camels and donkeys than trucks and Kübelwagens.
The road ahead stopped. It was a dead end. "Reverse and take the next left."
Harry almost slammed into the back of us as we reversed down the road. We rejoined the main road but we were in a quieter section. I reloaded the machine gun with a new drum. As we headed towards the shanty side of town I began to believe we had made it.
"Sarge! Ahead, a road block."
"Slow down as though you are going to stop but keep going. No matter what happens don’t stop. Any grenades left?"
"Two. The rest are in our Bergens on the lorry."
"They will have to do. Have your guns ready. This looks like a bigger detachment than the one at the hotel."
I could see guns levelled as we approached them. They were suspicious. I stood and leaned against the gun again. I had my right hand on the Luger. "Have you seen the Arab terrorists?"
When the guns lowered just a little I knew they were buying our story. It was too dark to see the colour of our uniforms and the hats showed us to be Germans.
"Arabs? No! Where are you going?"
All the time he was talking Lowe was edging closer to him. "We have been ordered to clear the coast road."
Just then a sharp eyed Feldwebel saw something awry. "Englanders!"
I pulled my Luger and fired at the Feldwebel and the men manning the machine gun. The three grenades sailed high into the air and then the other three all let loose with their Thompsons. Lowe had done as I asked and he was moving forward slowly. "Floor it!"
He stamped down and we leapt forward. The second machine gun had managed to fire and it hit the space we had occupied. Then the grenades went off and the four men manning it were thrown high into the air as the grenades exploded. I turned the German heavy machine gun and raked the tents to my left. And then we were through and driving into the darkness. The lorry behind had given us enough space to clear the road and they missed the blast from the grenades. Harry Gowland was proving to be a cool customer or perhaps Gordy was giving him orders.
Ahead there was nothing for almost a hundred miles until we reached Aidabiya. When we reached that town there were three routes we could take. We now had a lead and, if we kept going at full speed we should be able to outrun anything which followed us. During the day they could send up air patrols but, at night, we had the darkness in which to hide. I had no idea what we would meet at Aidabiya. With luck no one was left alive to tell them that the Kübelwagen and the lorry were being driven by the enemy. I regretted not taking some of the jackets from the dead Germans. It was too late to worry about that now. A hundred miles would take us between two and three hours to cover. It looked, from the map, to be flat and that would help us keep up a steady speed.
"Well done Lowe. That was good driving. Did you manage to get enough fuel and water?"
Ken answered, "Aye we did."
"How is the fuel going?"
George tapped the gauges. "I reckon this one is the fuel. We are just over half full. I doubt we'll make this next town without refilling first though."
I looked at my watch. It was gone midnight. We would need to hide up somewhere but I wanted to make that after we had negotiated Aidabiya. "Let me know when you need to stop."
Now that I knew which gauge it was I watched it. Alarmingly it began to go down quickly. I realised that it had a short range; either that or the tank had a leak. I checked my watch again. It was two. We would have to stop. "You had better pull over and refill with petrol. How are you three doing in the back?"
"It is a bit cramped, Sarge."
"Connor you go in the lorry when we stop. We are probably a bit overcrowded and that will drink the juice."
As soon as we stopped I leapt out and ran to the back of the lorry while Polly and George grabbed a couple of jerry cans and Ken went to fetch more grenades from the Bergens. The flap at the back of the lorry opened, "How is the Lieutenant?"
"Sleeping Sarge."
"Good. That will probably do him more good than anything else. This will be the only stop we make before daylight. We will lie up of the day then."
The General said, "You did damn well back there. Mind you all that we could hear was the guns and the bombs. It was when we passed through that we saw what you had done."
"We aren't out of the woods yet, General. We have another town just ahead. There we have to decide which road to take. I have no doubt that there will be a roadblock. Jetty will have radioed ahead. We may have to go across country."
George came back. "All tanked up now sir and we filled up the lorry too. We are good for a couple of hundred miles now."
"Right. See you chaps later."
Dad waved and gave me thumbs up as I left.
The next town, Aidabiya, was not on the coast. There looked, from the map, to be some sort of swamp close to the coast. "We don't need to rush any more, Lowe. If we hit trouble then take us off into the scrub. Make sure, if we do, that you head to the right. I don't want to get trapped in the swamp."
We hit houses soon after we had stopped. There were no Germans but it was a warning for us. The road climbed, "Slow down when you reach the crest. Turn out your lights."
"It's bad enough with them dimmed as they are, Sarge."
"There is a town ahead. Just take it slowly. I will stand and keep watch for you." I used the machine gun to keep me upright. "Stop!" He stopped so sharply that I nearly plunged over the top. I jumped out of the Kübelwagen and bellied up to the rise. There was a roadblock and it was four hundred yards down the road. They had a small half track and a machine gun. It looked to be manned by about ten men.
I ran back to the vehicles. "Turn off your engines. Gordy
bring grenades. Moore, you come with us. Connor, you too." The captured officers looked down at me, concern on their faces. "There is a road block and a half track. It is blocking our way into the town. We will have to eliminate it. Then I intend to cut across country. We are going to take the southern road. Harry, George, as soon as we come back I am going to head due east. Go on foot and find the best place to leave the road. It will be daylight soon."
"Yes Sarge."
Dad's voice came out of the dark, "Take care, Tom."
"Will do, Dad."
I led the handful of men back to the Kübelwagen. "Gordy take half and make your way down the side of the road. I will do the same on the left. When you are close enough use your grenades and then machine guns."
I saw that he had left me with Curtis and Moore. We left the road and walked as quickly as we could on the uneven ground to the left. I hoped that the attention of the Germans would be on the road. They looked to have five men on watch. The rest were resting. Our rubber soled shoes helped us to make a silent approach. When we were thirty feet from them I took out a grenade. The others did the same. We all pulled the pins. I threw and a heartbeat later so did they. We flung ourselves to the ground. There were three loud cracks and then screams as men were hit. Three more explosions told me that Gordy's men had thrown theirs. We leapt to our feet. I had my Colt in my hand. A German staggered towards me with a rifle in his hands. He was disorientated but he was a good soldier and going to the danger. I shot him in the chest and he was thrown to the ground. We moved amongst them shooting any who looked to be a threat. "Find stick grenades. Ken I want this half track blowing up and then a couple of booby traps leaving."
I ran back up the road. "Start your engines. Which way, George?"
He pointed to a spot some thirty yards ahead. "It looks to be a track of some sort there. The ground is hard enough."
Gordy led the rest of the men back. "Get aboard."
There was a sudden explosion and the half track rose and then fell. It would need a low loader to take it away for repair. I walked to the gap that my men had found and waved the two vehicles forward. After they had driven into the scrub I got on my hands and knees and used a broken branch to sweep dirt and sand across it. It was not a perfect job but it would delay the pursuit. I jumped back into the passenger seat and we began our journey across the sand. I had thrown the dice. I hoped for a double six and not snake eyes!
Chapter 15
By the time dawn broke we were twenty miles beyond Aidabiya. I took out the German map we had found. I could see, ahead, the sandy trail that was the poorly made road we had to follow. "Join the trail."
We headed east and were making good time. In ten miles the trail would bend north. According to the German map there was a dotted line which continued east. Eventually it joined a solid line. I hoped that this meant a track. I would risk the track. The sun began to beat down on us. We could have rotated the drivers and kept going but I knew there would be an air search. I saw the camel prints and knew we had found the right place. "Take that track."
Once again I stopped the Kübelwagen and jumped down. Polly joined me and we made a much better job of disguising our route than the hurried one the night before. "You lads drive on but slowly. Polly and I will disguise our tracks." Where we had left the road and joined the sandy track it was soft earth and sand. The tyre tracks we had made were fresh. We swept them away, then we walked backwards for a hundred yards until we found ourselves on a rocky surface which did not show the tracks of the two vehicles.
We remounted and soon were travelling at a healthy twenty miles an hour It was faster than I would have thought we would have been able to do on the sand. "Keep your eyes open for shelter."
Ten minutes late Ken shouted, "There to the right."
I looked where he was pointing. There were a number of huge rocks just fifty yards from the road. Two of them were bigger than the lorry. "Perfect. Head there but go slowly. Ken you and Polly disguise our tracks."
They jumped from the slow moving Kübelwagen. The land began to slip away. We drove down a long shallow incline towards the large rocks. We stopped the two vehicles close to the massive blocks of stone. One overhung us and, when I looked back, I saw that we were below the level of the road. I went to the back of the lorry. "Everyone off. We are here. Gordy, use the camouflage nets to hide as much of the two vehicles as you can."
He said, "Sarge there is a big camouflage net here. It is a proper desert one. It will hide the whole lorry!"
"Perfect."
"Bill, break out the stoves. We might as well have a hot brew."
I ran back to the road and helped Ken and Polly disguise our tracks. As we descended to the camp I felt satisfied. When I was at the roadside I could not see the vehicles at all. We had got further with fewer casualties than I had expected and we had somewhere to hide. We had no sooner rigged the nets when Connor shouted, "Aeroplane!"
"Everyone down!"
It happened that I was able to lie at an angle and could view the sky without looking up into the sky. It was a Storch. They were a slow moving spotter aircraft and had a limited range but they had good visibility. He was flying to the north of the track we had been on. He disappeared and his engine faded. "Keep still. He is coming back!"
Sure enough the noise of his engine increased. This time, when he passed us I saw him heading north east. When I was satisfied that he had gone I rose. "You can all get up now."
Gordy came up to me. "Do you think he saw us?"
"We will find out in about an hour. If he did then the Germans will either send fighters or, more likely, troops. We can do little more. If we move they will see us. We sit tight. Have a cup of tea and some food and get some shut eye."
I was shattered. But before I could sleep I would need to speak with the Lieutenant. He was awake and Bill was checking his dressing. "I'm sorry about this, Sergeant. Damned inconvenient catching one like this."
"Don't worry, sir. The lads have all rallied around. We have done all right. Only you and Norm with wounds. Doc reckons Norm is not that bad. It is you we are worried about. To be honest I didn't think we would get this far. I should apologise for my outburst in the office."
He shook his head, "No, Sergeant, you were right. I was, am, too inexperienced. I will be better the next time out. If there is a next time. How do things look?"
"Surprisingly good. We are taking the desert route. Unless Jerry comes knocking in the next hour or so then his spotter didn’t see us. I intend to push on as soon as it is dark and try and reach the British lines before dawn." I paused, "If you are happy with that, sir?"
"That is fine. Carry on, Sergeant."
"You get some rest, sir. I'll just go and check the sentries."
I found Gordy. "Have you arranged a rota?"
"Aye Sarge. The lads know what they are doing."
"When am I on?"
Gordy shook his head, "You should be letting the young lads do the duty." I just stared at him. "How about last stag, before dark." I nodded. "Sometimes, Sarge, I reckon for a bright lad you are a bit soft in the head."
I saw steam coming from the pan of water and I headed over to it. Dad cut me off. "You sit down, son and I will make you a brew. I have been watching you. You have never stopped. "I hesitated. "Sit!"
I laughed and did as he asked, "Sir! Yes sir!"
He wandered over to the stove and then returned with a mug of tea. He shook his head. "You make me tired just watching you."
I shrugged, "I am sure you were the same when you were my age, dad."
He sat next to me on the rock and sipped the tea. "Perhaps. It is a hard task you have ahead of you."
"I know but I have found that if you focus on the next part and don't worry about the end result then the job is less daunting."
"And of course you found more men to rescue than you were told."
I nodded, "Twice as many actually but it doesn't change the nature of the job does it?" Dad shook his head, "So how d
id you end up a prisoner?"
"I was a prisoner before the General arrived. I suspect that if you hadn't been sent for General Carter then I would be a prisoner yet. Lieutenant Commander Graham and I were flying along the coast looking for suitable bases for our ships and our aeroplanes. That was back when we were chasing the Italians. We were advancing so quickly that it was hard to resupply the forward troops. We wanted to see what sort of fields and ports the Italians had. Our pilot," he gestured to the young lieutenant, "is a good lad but he took us too low. I think he was trying to impress a British ace. We were hit and had to crash land. He did well to bring us down in one piece. The gunners and the rest of the crew were sent to a POW and we were taken to the hotel where you found us. It was the Italian Headquarters. They were going to send us to Rome and then the Germans took over. The German general is a General Rommel. He went on the offensive as soon as he arrived. The hotel you found us in had been almost the front line. Jerry advanced and captured a couple more towns east of us. They captured General Carter a week or so ago and then you came." He nodded, "And just in time too. The Colonel, the chap your corporal shot, had just enjoyed telling us that the SS were coming to question us."
"Mum was worried. She got no joy from the Ministry when she tried to find out where you were."
He smiled, "I bet she rang Randy." I nodded. "He is in Intelligence now and he knew that we were missing. I spoke to him the night before we took off. Don't blame him. He couldn't tell your mum anything. He probably thought I would escape and arrive back in Cairo."
"I am surprised that you didn't."
"I'm not as young as I used to be and … well to be frank the other two seemed quite happy to be prisoners. It isn't in my nature to leave someone behind and so I stayed. Then the General arrived and I knew he was far more important than me. He has secrets in his head which the Germans would love to pry loose."